On March 19th the final Canadian Soldiers arrived home from Afghanistan.
And while the battle on the ground is over, for some soldiers, the stresses associated with conflict will linger.
Local veteran rights and services advocate, Bill Hampson feels not enough is being done to help service men and women to dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hampson explains when a soldier is in a conflict zone or on a mission they are in a heightened state of awareness. The adrenaline associated with that often acts like a drug, and some soldiers do not know how to return to a normal life once removed from those situations and back home.
He’s calling on our government to step up and help soldiers dealing with PTSD, saying “if the government is going to ask soldiers to volunteer to represent Canada’s foreign policy abroad, government should have to pay for the privilege”.
There was a shooting at the Fort Hood Military Base in Texas yesterday. Four people died when a soldier opened fire and then took his own life. 16 people were injured.
Officials say the shooter was an Iraq veteran who was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and was on medication for other mental health issues.
A similar incident happened at Fort Hood in 2009 and 13 people were killed.
